Decorations And Referenda: Bolingbrook Village Hall Roundup

BOLINGBROOK, IL — The village board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25 was a fairly routine one; no earth-shaking proposals came before the board. Nevertheless, a number of developments were addressed; here are five of the most important.

• Christmas Decoration Winners Recognized
  • To start the meeting off, Mayor Roger Claar and members of the village Beautification Commission spent a full 50 minutes recognizing and congratulating the winners of the Bolingbrook Christmas Decoration contest. Some were first-time winners, others have won multiple times. In total, 25 different households were honored for their displays of holiday cheer.
• Village Resident Appointed Community Television Commissioner
  • Mayor Claar swore in village resident Kevin Stewart as a new commissioner for Bolingbrook Community Television, the village's public access channel. Stewart has lived in Bolingbrook for about five years, and told those in attendance that he has worked in the cable industry for about 26 years. As a commissioner, he will play a leading role in maintaining the functions of Bolingbrook Community Television, which include filming and live-streaming Bolingbrook government functions. Towards the end of Tuesday's meeting, Village Trustee Sheldon Watts took time to congratulate Stewart again. "Always happy to see new people step up and serve on our commissions, it's the heartbeat of our village," Watts said. Bolingbrook Community Television is available on Comcast public access channel six and AT&T U-Verse channel 99.
• Unnamed Person Buys Four Lots For One House
  • The board unanimously passed a motion to ratify and approve a real estate contract for four lots in the Americana Estates neighborhood - for one person. Two of the four lots sold for $85,000 each, the other two for $55,000 each; a total $280,000 offer. According to Mayor Claar, the purchaser of these lots plans to consolidate them and build an 8,000 square foot home on the new, single, extra-large lot. "It's probably approaching a $2 million home by the time it's done," Claar said. Claar did not give the name of the person buying these lots, only that he was "a local businessman."
• Bolingbrook Beats Homewood-Flossmoor, 70-67
  • At several points over the course of the meeting, Claar put the proceedings on hold to update the room on the ongoing Bolingbrook v Homewood-Flossmor High School Basketball game. It was a close match, but Bolingbrook managed to beat out the opposing team by three points. Claar announced the win to applause from the village board and residents in attendance, and said that news of the game would be covered by the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune. He was right.
• Claar Pitches Part-Time Mayorship Again; Public Pushes Back
  • Once again, Claar took time to open discussion on the idea of reducing the Mayorship from a full-time to a part-time position after he retires this year. Like previous village meetings where the topic has come up, a member of the Oswego public came forward to voice their opposition to the proposal. Ken Harris, a Bolingbrook resident of more than 27 years, said he believed a mayorship is inherently a full-time job; one that should pay full-time wages. "The expectation of the mayor includes but is not limited to being visible," Harris said. "You're expected to attend sporting events... You're expected to be available for residents... You're expected to [handle] diversity issues... Buid[ing] out should not be the end of the mayor's duties." Later during the same discussion, Trustee Robert Jaskiewicz told Claar that several village residents had approached him, asking if the decision to transfer mayorship to a part-time position should be a public referendum instead of a village board decision. Village Attorney Burt Odelson informed Jaskiewicz and later Patch that public referendums can only be held during consolidated elections. The next such election is only weeks away on March 17, the following one will be in November, at the same time the new mayor will be elected. Because any changes to the mayor position must take place six months prior to the next mayoral election, holding a referendum on the issue in November effectively ensures that Claar's successor would be a full-time mayor for the duration of their term. This would effectively nullify Claar's proposal for a part-time mayor all together.

The Feb. 25 meeting in its entirety is freely available to watch on the Bolingbrook village website, via the efforts of the Bolingbrook Community Television team.